Tuesday, July 16, 2013

When asked why he was interested in bryozoans, Dr Kevin Tilbrook of the Queensland Museum joked: "Isn't everyone?"

Grace Chua has captured Dr Kevin's humour that many at the Southern Expedition appreciated (and miss). She also explored why we should care about small stuff that people often overlook, featuring some of the amazing animals encountered during the Mega Marine Survey expeditions.

The Festival was an awesome explosion of fun for volunteers of the marine community and fellow nature lovers.

President Tony Tan visited the Festival and we take the opportunity to share about the important aspects of our biodiversity. Heng Pei Yan managed to get a smile out of him by showing him how the dugong leaves a feeding trail in our seagrass meadows.

Friday, June 7, 2013

In her post Surveying the Deep Debby shares: "Apart from getting to dive in areas that leisure divers do not frequent, it was a real eyeopener to be diving with a diverse group of scientists from around the world who have such varied interests and expertise!"

This is the last day for field trips. A bitter-sweet time when we savour every moment at the Expedition.

Heng Pei Yan and I decide to hunt for shrimps at the lagoon next to the public jetty. It was a hot day, with the main city skyline and the greenery of Seringat-Kias on the horizon. There were also diving, dredging and mini-talks.

We finally get an understanding of some of our common ascidians. As well as some of our echinoderms, and learn about molluscs and marine life in Thailand. In the last of the mini-talks at the Southern Expedition.

As Debby Ng of the Hantu Bloggers says so well: "I've learned so much from #megamarine survey! Learned/saw new things & learned more about things I already knew some about! Enriched!"

Monday, June 3, 2013

One of the highlights of the Expedition is to hear from the experts during the all too-short talks at the end of the day.

For her talk on "Incredible Cnidarians", being the world authority on sea anemones, Prof Daphne Fautin, University of Kansas, USA of course started with these wonderful colourful animals. In his talk, Prof Charles Messing gave a quick and simple guide to some feather stars commonly seen in Singapore.

Hurray! The long missing Horrible elbow crab (Daldorfia horrida) has been found by Dr Lin Chiawei during the night dive today.

It is HUGE and indeed rather horrible. It is listed as 'Presumed Nationally Extinct' on the Singapore Red List, which probably means that it hasn't been seen here in 50 years. So it's great to know that it still exists in our waters!

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Amphipods are tiny critters that often hide among debris on the high tide line on the sea shore. These small crustaceans are super abundant in world oceans and very diverse (more than 10,000 described species).

Dr Jim Lowry from the Australian Museum studies them. His project during the Southern Expedition is the first major survey of the group in Singapore waters.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Dr Shane Ahyong shares great news about the first discovery of five species of mantis shrimps from Singapore waters at the Southern Expedition! One of them, a coral reef mantis shrimp is probably new to science.

Photo by Dr Arthur Anker

What are mantis shrimps? And why are they the Ferraris of the Sea? Here's more about these intriguing creatures, shared by Dr Shane Ahyong of the Australian Museum.

Rarely seen, with few specimens known to science, this special crab is only found in Singapore. Not seen for 100 years, the Southern Expedition has found another specimen of this elusive creature in Singapore waters!

Photo by Prof Peter Ng.

Prof Peter Ng says "Not only do we now report the crab after a century hiatus – we also here
document its splendid colours for the first time – white, red, brown,
pink and purple!" Here's more about this intriguing creature, shared by Prof Peter Ng.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Electric rays! These cute little fishes were among the finds during the Deep Dredge today! They were last recorded in 1964 and are different from the spotty electric ray that we have seen in shallow water.

Friday, May 17, 2013

It's still days before the Southern Expedition starts and we are already finding cool marine critters!

Prof Peter Ng (in blue) tells us about this special crab that so far has only been found in Singapore. Dr Bertrand Richer de Forges conducted trial dredges with all kinds of interesting finds. And there's lots more that is being done to prepare for the Expedition!

Sunday, May 5, 2013

The enthusiastic students from River Valley High School were a bright spot at the Northern Expedition of the Mega Marine Survey last year. Their questions and curiosity made the work more interesting and enjoyable for all.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Like the recently completed Northern Expedition, this event brings together 45 scientists from Singapore and around the world, for a frenzy of field trips including intertidal walks, diving, dredging and trawling! The Southern Expedition will be based at St. John's Island.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

The Northern Expedition is featured in The New Paper! Dr Tan Koh Siang of the Tropical Marine Science Institute and leader of the Expedition shared more about the finds made.

He said: "We are certainly excited about the specimens we have collected since quite a few are either new records for Singapore, or are 're-discovered' after many decades. "Some may eventually prove to be new science.